Fade by Chad West Page B

young women in shock to deal with.
    “You are Jonas,” a voice from behind him said.
    Jonas spun, his mouth falling open at the sight of the broad, tan man, (light armor covered him like leaves cover trees). With everything he could manage, Jonas took up a fighting stance.
    ***
    “I come for talk.” In spite of being human, he was one of the Fade’s warriors. Of that, Jonas was sure. Jonas’ eyes followed the man as he approached the dying Golem. “I am Kah’en. You are in lucky I was being the one Aern sent.”
    Jonas did not move, but he reddened at the mention of Aern, the bastard who had led the Fade in the war against his Earth. “What do you want?”
    The sun was a melting orange pool to the right of where Kah’en stood. He pulled at the hilt at his side, which Jonas recognized. In a second it became a long sword, vibrating with dim, blue light. “You will be wanting to hear what I have to say, human.”
    There were dozens like Kah’en, who were as human as Jonas, but they had come through the same gate as those giant, shadow-skinned murderers. Jonas had never quite figured that one out. But he had also given up caring years ago. The Fade were sociopathic killers, and this scum was no less so because he lacked their alien features.
    Kah’en was tall and muscular, with eyes as brown as his coffee skin, and dark hair cropped short. He wore the light armor of a Fade warrior outside of battle. But still, it was formidable. Rough, leather leggings, a simple piece of black armor, broad shoulder pads. Aern’s symbol—a four-armed female figure—sat blue on his chest. Black steel sheathes covered his arms. Circuitry ran through them that Jonas hoped was still nonfunctional. The glowing sword made that a more realistic worry. 
    “Say what you have to say then,” said Jonas.
    The warrior raised his free hand and walked over to the still living Golem. He raised the sword, brought it down, severing the Golem’s head. “Aern will destroy you. He is much plotting against you.”
    “Aern is here?” Jonas narrowed his eyes, bared his teeth like a cornered dog.
    “Yes. You led us here. Whatever you were doing to disappear the signal finally failed. But I am here to be helping you.”
    Jonas thought it best to hide his ignorance about just how he’d managed to lead them there. “Why help us?”
    Said Kah’en, “I would be a fool when I lie and say that I care about your well-being.” Jonas nodded with an annoyed smile. “I do not. I am in this place because we are many who lost faith in our search for the Queen.”
    Kah’en was worse at it than his taller, uglier brother’s-in-arms, but Jonas hated hearing any of them try to speak their languages. “What does that have to do with me?” He glanced over at the girls, then toward Kah’en. The warrior’s eyes were casually going from one girl to the next. Jonas felt his jaw tighten.
    “You are being the first peoples who have ever defeated us. You are wanting this war to stop. So are we. We are believing Aern is heading to destroy us all on this fool’s journey.”
    “Your people… Hell , probably just you alone, murdered hundreds of innocent children rather than let them get to safety. Not to mention the hundreds of millions more that you killed just for fun.” Jonas took a step closer. “You want me to trust you? You have no soul. You have no compunction about doing whatever it takes to accomplish your goals. I don’t know if you learned this during your time on our planet, but that’s not what we’re about.”
    Kah'en frowned. “I could be making an argument against this point. I am so aware of how your race is feeling about us, Jonas. I am not lying that we feel no remorse over what we have done. It was war. We make no worries of morality against our enemy as your peoples do. What is, is. Our only law is being…”
    “The strongest rule. Yeah, I’ve heard that enough,” Jonas said.
    Kah’en grimaced. “I have seen many of your peoples